St Marcus Mke Sermons

This week we will be studying James 2:18-26 under the theme “The Unsaving Belief of Satan.” The devil not only has knowledge of the true God, but emotion regarding the true God. But knowledge and emotional reaction are not the sum total of true faith. Saving faith also requires trust. SERIES SUMMARY: While all Christians have heard the stories of the demonic in Scripture, very few of us walk around with a daily awareness that we are battling evil spiritual forces. This is, in part, because we live in a deeply secularized, post-Christian America. Satan has learned how much damage he can cause when he makes himself invisible. But if you don’t acknowledge demonic forces in the world, you will always demonize the wrong things. We must be aware of the spirit realm, how it influences us, and how Jesus is Lord over it all. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’ll be studying 1 Samuel 28:3-25 and “The Witch of Endor.” One of the more bizarre spirit realm stories of the Old Testament tells the story of how far Israel’s King Saul had fallen. This is the fate of anyone who refuses to fully listen to God’s Word. Saul is a cautionary tale of the importance of listening to God’s Word carefully, trusting God thoroughly, and, therefore, not needing to know every detail of life. SERIES SUMMARY: While all Christians have heard the stories of the demonic in Scripture, very few of us walk around with a daily awareness that we are battling evil spiritual forces. This is, in part, because we live in a deeply secularized, post-Christian America. Satan has learned how much damage he can cause when he makes himself invisible. But if you don’t acknowledge demonic forces in the world, you will always demonize the wrong things. We must be aware of the spirit realm, how it influences us, and how Jesus is Lord over it all. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to o

This week we’ll be studying 2 Timothy 3:10-17 under the theme “The Conscientious Christian Life.” Through one of the most famous passages in these letters, Paul explains how Spirit-inspired Scripture is forever useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying 2 Timothy 2:14-26 under the theme “Majoring in What Matters.” Christian witness can be negatively impacted by debating about things that don’t matter much, combining genuine Christian teaching with worldly philosophy, or simply by a lifestyle that doesn’t support our beliefs. In 2 Timothy, Paul provides practical advice for anyone who desires to lead others in faith. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This weekend we’re celebrating the gift of Christian education and studying 2 Timothy 1:1-14 with the theme “Generational Faith Transmission.” All through our study of 1 Timothy, we have seen Paul’s pragmatic instructions for overseeing the church. In this first chapter of Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he shifts his focus to Timothy’s own faith, prompting us to consider how we will carry out God’s command to pass the faith on to the next generation. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying 1 Timothy 6:6-19 under the theme “Managing Finite Resources.” America has long practiced the belief that happiness can come through consumption. But Paul teaches that how we manage the blessings of this life, and with what attitude, says everything about what we believe is coming in the future. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We will be studying 1 Timothy 5:1-15 under the theme “Caring for the Elderly.” In the ancient world, long before Medicare and Social Security, it was assumed that family members would provide for aging parents. But sometimes there were no family members to care for the elderly. The Church became the first social organization to assist with the needs of the aging population. Here, Paul gives some practical instructions to his ministry pupil, Timothy, about how the church in Ephesus should handle this. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We’ll be studying 1 Timothy 4:1-16 under the theme “Youth & Maturity.” This section is where we get the famous encouragement to “not let anyone look down on you because you are young” but perhaps it doesn’t mean what you initially think. This section gets into the power of deceiving spirits, the benefit of personal spiritual training, and Paul’s expectation of spiritual maturation. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying 1 Timothy 3:1-13 under the theme “Spiritual Leaders.” The grace of God expressed in Christ Jesus is the predominant theme of Christianity and the one thing that qualifies us for salvation. No human is more equipped than another.  That said, God does establish qualifications for those who will serve as Christian leaders. These are traits desirable for all Christians, both in official and non-official leadership capacities. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying 1 Timothy 2:1-15 under the theme “The Who and What of Worship.” While this text contains some fairly difficult statements, we can’t get deterred from the clear, primary point. Paul encourages all believers to regularly gather for prayer and encouragement, worshipping the Mediator who made them right with God — their Lord & Savior Jesus.

THIS EPISODE: We’ll be studying 1 Timothy 1:12-19 under the theme “The Worst of Sinners.” Is it hyperbole that Paul, the greatest Christian missionary in history, was the worst of sinners? Is this false modesty? Is it self-effacing religious guilt? Or is there something true here that actually has become advantageous for proclaiming God’s grace? SERIES SUMMARY: Believers in their 20’s and 30’s represent the biggest demographic group at St. Marcus by a decent margin. As such, the Apostle Paul’s encouragements to a younger ministry companion in Timothy are perhaps uniquely beneficial for our congregation. Over the next couple of months, St. Marcus will be worshipping under the theme “1 & 2 Timothy: Pragmatism for Young Ministers.” We will see how God desires for all of his people to carry out ministry, and that youth is no excuse for inaction or immaturity. Rather, Paul says that all who know Jesus as Lord and Savior should seek to “set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith a

This week in worship we will study Matthew 13:47-52 under the theme “The Comfort of God’s Judgment.” In the last of the “Kingdom Parables” of Matthew 13, Jesus tells us what will happen at the end — the righteous and the wicked will be separated. The idea of judgment rightly evokes feelings of fear and dread, but Jesus reveals to us several things. First, there is nothing to fear for those who are found in him. Next, the kingdom of heaven is unlike any other kingdom on earth. Finally, we have assurance that all things will be made right in the final judgment. We’ll also look at the example of King Solomon in 1 Kings 3 to illustrate that, in Jesus, we have a king who is greater in every way — in his judgment, in his wisdom, and in his love. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll conclude our Making Sense of God series by studying Romans 11:33-36 under the theme “Christianity as Reasonable.” In a world where “faith” has largely been insinuated to be the antithesis of reason, it’s important to see that the God of all thought is not against logic but uses wisdom that far supersedes what finite creatures can comprehend. This makes him deserving of our praise. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we’ll be studying Matthew 11:20-30 under the theme “Justice.” Biblical justice is a tricky issue. We should value life the way Our God values it and we are all subject to His perfect and beautiful laws. It is not our role to judge those who are under these laws, only He can do that. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Our early summer series will be based on Tim Keller’s Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Using the structure of Keller’s book, we’ll examine biblical texts that provide practical life resources for navigating a post-Christian society. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we will be studying 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 and Philippians 3:7-9 under the theme “Identity.” The gifts of Christ’s righteousness and adoption into God’s family through baptism give us our identity. We are eternal family members of the one true God. No one can take this from us and, to the degree we understand this, we will be freed from the stress of a performance-based identity and the need for human approval that this world cultivates. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we will be studying Romans 2:14-15 under the theme “Morality.” Morality is something that only religion can give answers for. Science can tell you the way things are but it cannot say anything when it comes to the way things “ought to be.” Every human believes things “ought” to be a certain way. Paul makes this argument very clearly and persuasively in Romans 2. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

We celebrate our freedom in Christ and the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth commemorates when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 to announce and ensure that the last of slavery in the Confederacy was abolished. Based on Matthew 9:35-10:8. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

This week we will be studying Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 under the theme “Meaning.” Satan’s primary lie to humanity is that something or someone other than God can give us what only the true God can actually give. So, we search for meaning in life in otherwise good things – work, relationships, pleasure, etc. King Solomon, who had it all, teaches us that when these meaningful things are pursued ahead of Christ, everything becomes meaningless. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive

Our early summer series will be based on Tim Keller’s Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Using the structure of Keller’s book, we’ll examine biblical texts that provide practical life resources for navigating a post-Christian society. This week, we'll be studying 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 under the theme “Faith & Proof." All belief systems, religious and secular, require faith. Christianity is unique for a variety of reasons. It is rooted in eyewitness testimonies of historical facts and supernatural events that the early believers were willing to die for, proving it to be far different from both other world religions and modern secularism. If you’d like to leave an offering or monetary donation to our ministry please click here: https://tinyurl.com/stmarcusgive